Apparatus for landing airplanes



1 1944. D, H. BOTTRILL APPARATUS FOR LANDING AIRPLANES Filed- May 15, 1941 2 Sheets- Sheet 1 r 5/ ATTORNEYS Mh Q n F n 1"- April 1944- p. HU 01mm, 2,346,633

APPARATUS FOR LANDING AIRPLANES Filed May 15, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 fa/ zy w .30 g 2 22 25 J 25 z! 25 H a; 0 if a m I. 34 34 3 I /J[ ,aa;

ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 11, 1944 v l'lfED STATES -gur osricr APPARATUS'FG'R LANDING AIRPLANES Application'liday' 15, 1941, SerialNo. 393,515

3 Claims.

This invention relates to apparatus for landing airplanes.

In my co-pending application Serial No. 271,989, filed May 5, 1939, on which Patent No. 2,246,716 was issued on June 24, 1941, I have described a method of landing an airplane in which the airplane is brought into contact with a platform moving in a straight line at a speed as great as the minimum flying speed of the airplane in such manner that there is no relative horizontal movement between the airplane and the platform when they come into contact. The platform is mounted on a railway car which is moved at high speed on the fixed track, and the airplane is pointed in such direction that its speed over the ground is the same as that of the car. As a result, the longitudinal axis of the airplane is generally at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the car. The angle between the two axes depends upon the angle between the wind and the track and upon the strength of the wind and is, therefore, subject to wide variation. The present application, which is a continuation in part of my aforesaid application, is directed particularly to providing securing means operative on initial contact of the airplane with the platform With the airplane.-: longitudinal axis at any angle to the axis of the car to fix the airplane securely to the platform so that it cannot either lift from the platform or slide on the platform. This and other features of the invention will be explained in connection with a detailed description of an apparatus embodying the invention which is shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a side view of a self-propelled railway car providing a landing platform, showing the position of an airplane which has landed thereon;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view showing the skids on the airplane, and showing, in longitudinal section, part of the landing platform on the car;

Fi 3 is a further enlarged fragmentary view showing in section a part of one of the plane skids and one of the magnets on the car;

Fi 4 is a transverse section of the car with movable shelves forming part of the platform in extended position;

Fig. 5 is a side view of one end of the car with the shelves in the position shown in Fig. 4; and

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary transverse elevation of the car showing one of the shelves in folded position.

Fig. 1 shows an automotive railway car It. The car is of standard railroad gauge and is provided with a driving mechanism capable of giving the car a high speed and a rapid acceleration. The driving mechanism most desirably is of the dieselelectric type such as used in standard automotive railway cars for passenger trafiic. Electric motors II on two axles of the car are indicated in Fig. 1.

As shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6, the car is provided with a structural steel framework including floor girders l2, uprights l3, roof girders l4 and diagonal bracing in the walls. A central platform It is mounted on the roof girders M.

Shelves so are mounted on hinge pivots 2| along the upper side edges of the car. Sheet metal fairing members 22 are secured to the outer edges of the shelves and are curved inwardly. The shelves are held in extended position by detachable diagonal braces 23. Each brace 23 has its upper end secured by a bolt to a tab 24 on the bottom of one of the shelves and its lower end secured by a bolt to a tab 25 secured to one of the floor beams. The shelves 20 cooperate with the central platform Hi to provide a wide unobstructed landing platform at the top of the car.

When desired, the diagonal braces 23 may be removed, and the shelves 2i! swung down. The tab 24 of each shelf is bolted to a tab 26 on one of the uprights l3 so as to hold the shelves securely in down position, as shown in Fig. 6. In this position, the fairing members 22 swing inward between the uprights i3 and into openings in the side walls below the cross braces 15.

A series of electro-magnets 3B is provided in the central platform it. Each magnet consists of a rectangular core 3i provided with a horizontal winding 32. The upper surface of the core is covered with a thin layer of vulcanized hard rubber 33. The magnets 31 project through rectangular openings in the platform 16 so that the upper surface of their hard rubber layers lies in a plane slightly above the plane at the top of the platform.

The airplanes used with the car are provided with landing skids 35, the bottoms of which carry bars 36 of magnetizable metal. The lower surface of the bars 36 are provided with a thin layer of vulcanized rubber 31. The vulcanized rubber layers 33 and 3"! have ribbed surfaces as indicated in Figs. 2 and 3.

When the car is used for the landing of airplanes, the shelves 20 are extended, the magnets are energized, and the car is operated at high speed along a straight track. When an airplane is brought into contact with the car without relative horizontal movement, the magnets 36 strongly attract the magnetizable bars 35 and draw the skids of the airplane forcibly against the top of the car. This brings the vulcanized rubber layer on the kids into contact with the vulcanized layers on the tops of the magnets. The coefilcient of friction between the two rubber layers is so high that the skids are held firmly against any sliding movement on the platform. There is thus no relative movement between the airplane and the platform after the initial contact has been made.

The car may be moved from place to place along an ordinary railroad track by placing its shelves 20 in the position shown in Fig. 6 so that the car does not require more clearance than an ordinary railway car.

What I claim is:

1. Apparatus for landing an airplane, comprising a railway car, an unobstructed fiat platform on said car, magnets projecting through said 20 platform, and layers of vulcanized rubber on the upper surfaces of said magnets.

2. Apparatus for landing an airplane on a railway car moving at a flying speed of the airplane, comprising the combination of a magnet on the car, a layer of vulcanized rubber on the upper surface of the magnet, an armature for said magnet on the airplane, and a layer of vulcanized rubber on the lower surface of the armature.

3. Apparatus for landing airplanes, comprising a railway car having a fiat top, side walls containing openings, shelves hinged along the side edges of the top of the car, detachable means for holding said shelves in the plane of the top of the car, and fairing members extending downwardly from the outer edges of the shelves and adapted to extend into the openings of the side walls of the car when said shelves are swung against. said side walls.

DAVID H. BOT'I'RIIL. 

